Payments Operations Manager - Vice President

Payment Lifecycle Manager - Vice President Make your mark leading payments operations and market expansion—driving strategy, controls, and automation to deliver safer, better client outcomes. As a Lead in payments operations, you lead strategic market expansion and payments operations initiatives, ensuring regulatory alignment and operational readiness. You oversee end-to-end payments lifecycle operations, risk and control execution, and governance practices while managing escalations and stakeholder expectations. You deliver measurable improvements through data-driven insights, automation, and inclusive people leadership that develops talent and elevates service quality. Job Responsibilities: Lead strategic market-entry/expansion programs, ensuring regulatory alignment and operational readiness. Partner with cross-functional teams to deliver expansion initiatives in line with long-term strategy and local/global regulations. Provide concise program updates to senior leadership, with clear insights, risks, and recommendations. Build and maintain senior stakeholder partnerships to enable market expansion and strategic collaboration. Track effectiveness of expansion strategies, course-correcting plans to deliver targeted outcomes. Own end-to-end payments operations across the lifecycle—daily performance, objectives, escalations, and service quality. Embed strong risk, control, and compliance standards in execution; actively identify and escalate emerging issues. Leverage deep payments/product knowledge to translate client needs into operational improvements, using AI/automation for efficiency and compliance. Drive initiatives to enhance processing and client experience, including process optimization, cybersecurity, and anti-fraud controls. Execute operational strategy and communicate business updates to key internal stakeholders and external clients, adhering to policies and guidelines. Strengthen the operating model and talent: governance/PMO methodology, SOP/control documentation, and an inclusive culture through coaching and development. Required qualifications, skills, and capabilities: 7+ years of experience in payments operations leadership or management, with a track record leading high-performing teams to achieve business priorities and objectives. Advanced knowledge of global payment processing operations, market products, systems architecture, and industry regulations to support operational efficiency, change management, and transformation. Demonstrated ability to plan and execute strategy, including implementing automation technologies to optimize payments processing across global and cross-functional teams. Strong data analysis skills, with the ability to interpret and communicate insights to inform senior stakeholder decision-making in fast-paced environments. Strong stakeholder management and collaboration skills across cross-functional teams, with experience managing projects, solving problems, and driving continuous improvement. Understanding of cybersecurity controls and anti-fraud strategies, with a track record enhancing customer experience while protecting information and systems. Demonstrated commitment to Diversity, Inclusion & Opportunity through inclusive leadership and talent development practices. Preferred qualifications, skills, and capabilities: Knowledge of ISO and SWIFT message processing or management. Experience delivering project management within complex, cross-functional programs. Experience using automation and analytics tools such as Tableau, Alteryx, or machine learning.